Slideshow: 15 Modern Inventions That Didn’t Live Up to the Hype

It's happened many times throughout engineering history, especially since the introduction of the Internet. Some new technology is touted as the next great thing that will catch on like wildfire and become one of the most popular and important inventions of all time.

This invention is released to great fanfare, and people start trying it out. But for some reason or another -- whether lack of user friendliness, better competitive technologies, or just general apathy on the part of consumers -- the invention falls flat.

We asked around and found 15 modern inventions that seemed cool at the time but didn't quite live up to their hype.

Click on the Digital Audio Tape below to start the slideshow. Then tell us in the comments section if you agree with our list, or if we missed the mark.

Digital Audio Tape (DAT)

Somewhere between audiocassettes, compact discs, and iTunes, there were DATs. Back in the early 1990s, they were meant to be the next major format for recording and playing music. Sony introduced the signal recording and playback medium in 1987. Alas, aside from making some headway in the digital recording milieu, DATs never really took off. They have become a forgotten format in the era of digital music.

Thanks, Daniyal, I had a lot of fun compiling this list and thinking about all the inventions that were supposed to be the "next big thing" but didn't quite pan out that way. There could be a lot more on this list as well, and I did ask readers for suggestions. I am still curious to see what also could've been on the list...what do people think?

Thanks for sharing this interesting list Liz. This shows how rapidly our technologies are developing and how quickly people adapt to a more user-friendly device. I was myself very disappointed about The Segway as i thought it would be very convenient for transportation and would make life easier for everyone. It was mostly the over-hype that killed Segway's impact on the market, let alone other factors. Anyhow you compiled a very amusing list, reminded me of a lot of inventions i had forgotten.

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